A must for all lovers of the Punk scene of the late 70’s is this exhibition at the Discovery Museum, just off Westgate Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
The exhibition includes memorabillia from all over the NE region.
Click the links below to buy classic albums from that era.
Morrissey – Manchester GMEX 22nd December 2006
Set List: Panic / First Of The Gang To Die / The Youngest Was The Most Loved / You Have Killed Me / Disappointed / Ganglord / I’ll Never Be Anybody’s Hero Now / William, It Was Really Nothing / Irish Blood, English Heart / I Will See You In Far-off Places / Girlfriend In A Coma / Everyday Is Like Sunday / In The Future When All’s Well / I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty / Let Me Kiss You / The National Front Disco / Dear God, Please Help Me / How Soon Is Now? / I Just Want To See The Boy Happy / Life Is A Pigsty encores Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / Don’t Make Fun Of Daddy’s Voice
What better way to start the Xmas break than a trip to Manchester to see “The King Of Rock’n’Roll” Morrissey?
Completely lost count of the number of times that I have seen him and The Smiths but what was a first was an afternoon trip to the Salford Lads Club. By the time we had found it however it was dark and not ideal for the classic Queen is Dead type photo. There was a small group of Japanese fans with night lens trying their best but I somehow suspect that the growing group of “Hoodies” were going to relieve them of their photographic equipment.
After some food and a visit to Harvey Nichols we walked along to the GMEX which for anyone who has not been is the old Central Station and is fantastic place to see a band even if the acoustics are not as good as the new style purpose built arena’s.
Once inside a Moz gig it never ceases to amaze me how much bitching there is over the setlist, the backdrop, his shirts, his quiff, the intro music, the choice of encore, the first song, the middle song, Julia……………for fucks sake just enjoy a master at his work.
Does any other artist is the world have their albums and gigs dissected as much as The Moz and why.
Can we not appreciate an elder statesman like Moz bucking the usual trend of continuous “Best Of” tours and actually touring a new album like Ringleader earlier this year? Why do so many people think that this is wrong? If his new stuff was second rate I could understand it but as it is not lets stick with the mixed set. Maybe the gig in April was to heavy on new tracks but this was a great blend.
A complete early solo / Smiths set would be too kitsch for me, pushing him towards the ridiculous 80’s multiple band tours. Do you really want to hear The Smiths back catalogue along side Tony Hadley, ABC and Curiosity Killed The Cat.
Well with all of that bollocks out of the way The Moz graced the stage at 9.00pm dressed in a blue shirt and pink tie. Very smart. By the end of Panic and First of The Gang it was off and into the crowd.
Cue the first of at least 4 shirt changes. No doubt some sites will tell you the minutes and seconds of each change, along with the colour, collar size and number of buttons. Personally I don’t care he was just in great form.
He was also in a very talkative mood; from memory before William he said “20 years ago I stood on this very stage, in these very trousers and this very shirt and sang with a music hall act - you have probably forgotten them”
Later the audience seemed slightly stunned when he said “Historically, this is the very place where Edward Evans was scooped up by Ian Brady - this song is for Edward Evans” was he going to give us Suffer Little Children, sadly no but still a great rendition of Every Day Is Like Sunday. Maybe the former was too much to ask for as it has only ever had one live outing and that was over 20 years ago.
The ever present mega fan also got her usual mention “Julia here you are in Manchester - you’ve only yourself to blame” and she did.
So for me a great performance with a very good band, however they are not and never will be The Smiths. So why don’t we all just enjoy every last minute of a true legend on stage and stop longing for the past. Maybe Johnny wasn’t quite as good as everyone thought and maybe Moz was more than half of The Smiths song writing team. Hardly been a major record seller apart form a couple of Electronic singles has he.
Lets leave the last word to the man himself.
“I,m sorry my hair is too long; I do hope that it hasn’t ruined your evening? But I want you to know that until my flesh drops off, I am eternally yours. I love you”
No doubting the best present that I got this Xmas.
The new Best Of by Paul Weller. What a fantastic career this man has had, truly a living legend.
